Oct 17, 2018

Pompeo meets Erdogan after talks with Saudis on missing journalist

ANKARA U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday following
talks with Saudi Arabia’s king and crown prince about the disappearance
of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who dispatched his top diplomat to address
the crisis, has given Saudi Arabia the benefit of the doubt in
Khashoggi’s disappearance, even as U.S. lawmakers pointed the finger at
the Saudi leadership, and Western pressure mounted on Riyadh to provide
answers.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Pompeo would bring
information about the case to Ankara, two weeks after Khashoggi vanished
when he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to collect documents
for his planned marriage.

Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi - a prominent critic
of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - was murdered and
his body removed. Turkish sources have told Reuters the authorities have
an audio recording indicating that Khashoggi was killed inside the
consulate.

The Saudis have strongly denied the accusations, but U.S. media outlets
have reported that they will acknowledge Khashoggi was killed in a
botched interrogation. Trump has speculated that “rogue killers” could
be responsible, but gave no evidence to back up that theory.

After meeting with King Salman and the crown prince on Tuesday, Pompeo
told reporters that Saudi Arabia has committed to conducting a complete
investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance.

How the crown prince, often referred to as MbS, emerges from the
Khashoggi disappearance is a test of how the West will deal with Saudi
Arabia in the future. At issue will be to what extent the West believes
responsibility for Khashoggi lies with the powerful young ruler.

“In each of those meetings I stressed the importance of them conducting a
complete investigation into the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. They
made a commitment to do that,” he told reporters traveling with him
after boarding the plane for Ankara.

“They said it would be a thorough, complete and transparent
investigation,” he said. “They indicated they understood that getting
that done in a timely, rapid fashion so they could begin to answer
important questions.”
MOUNTING CRITICISM

Asked whether they said Khashoggi was alive or dead, Pompeo said: “They didn’t talk about any of the facts.”

Earlier, Trump tweeted that Prince Mohammed had denied knowing what happened in the Saudi consulate.

“I think we have to find out what happened first,” Trump told the
Associated Press in an interview on Tuesday. “Here we go again with, you
know, you’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t like that.”

MbS, who has enjoyed a close relationship with the Trump administration,
has painted himself as the face of a new, vibrant Saudi Arabia,
diversifying its economy away from reliance on oil and making some
social changes.

But there has been mounting criticism of some of the prince’s moves,
including Riyadh’s involvement in the Yemen war, the arrest of women
activists, and a diplomatic row with Canada.

Members of the U.S. Congress, including some of Trump’s fellow
Republicans, are among the loudest voices in the United States demanding
answers and action on Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post
columnist who moved to Washington last year fearing retribution for his
critical views.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican close to Trump, has called Prince
Mohammed “a wrecking ball” and accused him of ordering Khashoggi’s
murder.

Despite Western concerns about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, Trump
still says he is unwilling to pull out of weapons sales agreements with
Riyadh.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin plans to attend a high-profile
investment conference in Riyadh next week known as “Davos in the
desert”, even as IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde joined a
growing list of high-profile executives who have pulled out.

The Saudi event is unrelated to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Saudi Arabia has said it would retaliate against any pressure or economic sanctions.